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This collection of commentaries on the reprinted 1987 article by Nancy C. Morey and Fred Luthans, “Anthropology: the forgotten behavioral science in management history”, aims to reflect on the treatment of the history of anthropological work in organizational studies presented in the original article.

The essays are invited and peer‐reviewed contributions from scholars in organizational studies and anthropology.

The scholars invited to comment on the original article have seen its value, and their contributions ground its content in contemporary issues and debates.

The original article was deemed “original” for its time (1987), anticipating as it did considerable reclamation of ethnographic methods in organizational studies in the decades that followed it. It was also deemed of value for our times and, in particular, for readers of this journal, as an historical document, but also as one view of the unsung role of anthropology in management and organizational studies.

This paper traces and acknowledges the heretofore generally overlooked contributions that anthropology and anthropologists have made to the history of management thought. Particular attention is devoted to tracing the early anthropological roots, highlighting the contributions made to the Hawthorne studies, and featuring the work of William Foote Whyte.

This article engages the concept of tests–here understood as social tests of collaborative abilities in the interdisciplinary teamwork–to examine how they are central to an applied anthropologist's positioning and influence within an organization.

Presented as an auto-ethnographic methodological exploration, the article takes its point of departure in ethnographic material from the work by Helene Ilkjær as an Industrial Postdoc with an interdisciplinary team of engineers, scientists and designers in a Danish technology start-up company.

Within this ethnographic context, the article examines not only the case of “the manual” to unfold how the dynamics of careful development but also notorious circumvention of manuals came to serve as social tests–moments that fundamentally changed the anthropologist's position within the interdisciplinary team. Analytically, the manual serves as a prism through which it explores the slippery and negotiable nature of the anthropologist's professional position as an Industrial Postdoc–suspended between anthropology “for” and “of” the company, officially employed by the company while also engaged in academic research.

The article offers anthropologists a tool to visualize the different movements and placements within continua of professional positionality while working as applied researchers with(in) private sector organizations.

The contribution of the present case lies in the critical view that every business actor should exercise – be it general manager, middle management, supervisor or executive – when building a strong organizational culture in corrupt political environments.

The purpose of this case study is to explore the dilemma in which Marcelo Odebrecht, once CEO of Odebrecht, found/determined whether to continue with the business model established by the founders of Odebrecht or take a new path for the organization. After exploring the corrupt acts of Odebrecht and the scope of Operation Lava Jato, the reader can reflect on the importance of organizational culture (according to the three levels proposed by Schein) in the face of the emergence of corruption. By generating discussions about organizational culture, business ethics, political culture and corruption, the organizational culture of Odebrecht is problematized in relation to its real behavior.

Students of administration, business and international business undergraduates and graduates, as well as members of senior management in companies in the infrastructure sector. Also, given the plurality of possible readings, it is recommended that the case also be used in courses or specializations in organizational psychology, organizational sociology or organizational anthropology.

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CSS 5: International Business.

Organisational clans and tribes are entities that prescribe the behaviour of collaborators on the basis of cultural values and norms. Consequently, this study aims to propose a management tool based on the analysis and interpretation of organisational clans and tribes.

With this purpose, first, the authors review the current status of the discussion about organisational clans and tribes, following a sequential mix-method approach that begins with a bibliometric analysis and end with a content review. Based on these results, in the second stage, the authors propose a conceptual tool that analyses clans and tribes in organisations to create and consolidate alliances. Then in the third stage, the authors apply this tool to the transformation of Medellin – a city that was first conceived as violent and now become a good place to live and travel.

By applying the tool proposed in this study, it is possible to analyse and understand how to transform disagreement into alliance and how clans and tribes – in addition to taking a leading role in organising – are jointly responsible for the results.

Clans and tribes of management are proposed as a tool for organisational management from the analysis and interpretation of clans and tribes in organisations. These clans and tribes of management allow for the intervention of clans and tribes of reference and their consequent emancipation, through organisational clans and tribes that arise naturally, by association or disintegration and that support the management of change required to create effective alliances. Thus, the strategy that should be followed to reinforce the management of changes in organisations is to align alliances with organisational clans and tribes.

Definir los clanes y las tribus organizacionales como aquellos que prescriben el comportamiento de los colaboradores a partir de los valores culturales y las normas, plantea la necesidad de proponer una herramienta de gestión a partir del análisis e interpretación de los clanes y las tribus organizacionales.

Para tal fin, se revisa -a través de un análisis bibliométrico- el estado reciente de la discusión sobre los clanes y las tribus organizacionales. Hasta proponer una herramienta conceptual de fácil aplicación, para la creación y consolidación de alianzas. Esta herramienta es posteriormente verificada para el caso de la transformación de la ciudad de Medellín, que paso de ser reconocida como una ciudad violenta para convertirse en un buen vividero y un destino por descubrir.

Con la aplicación de la herramienta propuesta en este estudio, se logra analizar y comprender como ha sido posible transformar la emancipación en alianza, y como los clanes y las tribus además de tener un rol protagónico en la organización son corresponsables de los resultados obtenidos.

Los clanes y tribus de gestión se proponen como una herramienta para la gestión organizacional que parte del análisis e interpretación de los clanes y tribus en las organizaciones. Estos clanes y tribus de gestión permiten la intervención de clanes y tribus de referencia y su consecuente emancipación, a través de clanes y tribus organizacionales que surgen de forma natural, por asociación o desintegración, y que apoyan la gestión del cambio necesario para crear alianzas efectivas. Así, la estrategia que debe seguirse para reforzar la gestión de los cambios en las organizaciones es alinear las alianzas con los clanes y tribus organizacionales.

The study and successful application of organizational change strategies is assuming an increasingly timely relevance in this era of rapid change and increased pressures for competitiveness. Organizational change, whether focused on people, structure, processes, or technology, is inextricably linked with culture change. Much of the practitioner-oriented literature on organizational change treats culture as a tool that can be controlled, manipulated, and integrated by a senior management team and consultants. This paper draws upon lessons learned from cultural anthropology and organizational theory and offers a more complex view that takes into account the strength of organizational subcultures. A framework is presented for creating lasting organizational change that incorporates an appreciation for chaos theory. Secondly, the underlying organizational dynamics that defeat planned change efforts are examined through the unique perspective of Grendel's mother (from the Old English prose poem, “Beowulf”). Grendel's mother provides a provocative image to heighten awareness of the dynamics of organizational life that defeat change efforts. The role of the change agent is explored as Beowulf with a ‘realpolitik’ perspective. Two examples from organization development fieldwork (a failed effort and a successful change program) illustrate the power of chaos theory, the force of Grendel's mother, and the role of Beowulf in planned change programs. By combining theory and practice, this paper seeks to facilitate the dialogue between academics and practitioners about creating lasting organizational change.